Vengeance Without Duty

Over the course of three days, the group fought against 3 Horned Black Bears, 2 Silver-Back Wolfs, 4 Twin-Tailed Panthers and 1 Purple Boa. Luckily I only had intervene once.

After each successful hunt, the person that got the monster core immediately paid me back 1000 points.

The group weren't the only busy ones, over the course of the training session I had hunted 5 Twin-Tailed panthers, 4 Silver-Back Wolfs, 6 Steel-Winged Falcons and 2 Purple Boas, netting me another 330,000 points.

"Show available points."

*available points - 1,382,500*

Nodding my head in p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, I put all my focus on the group.

"Okay, that concludes this rounds training session. Once we get back to camp, you have twelve hours of r&r, then we will continue with our training."

Pushing her way through the crowd, Lily came right up to me.

"We need more time to rest, if you want us to continue with this."

Staring at her, I realized that I ad not explained myself, I really should work on my people skills.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. We're done with hunting, the next faze will be sparring, helping you gain combat experience against other humans. This is to prepare you for different combinations of powers, and how to handle yourself accordingly."

Looking at the group, I could've sworn I'd heard a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, ten more minutes then we're moving out."

Turning away, I walked towards the nearest tree and laid down against its roots.

______________

"Okay people, pack up, we're going home."

Making our way back to camp, we tried to avoid monsters as much as we could, not that they pose a threat, but that they would hinder our arrival time.

The trip home, kept us walking the entire day, only arriving at the edge of the forest an hour after the sun had set.

"At dawn tomorrow, we meet in the mess hall. Goodnight. Lily, follow me."

After saying our goodbyes, the group split up.

_____________

Knocking on the door to my cabin, I stood silently and waited for Marie to unlock the door.

As the door opened, a small girl stood on her tip-toes, stretched, hanging from the doorknob.

Seeing her daughter, Lily nearly ran me of the face of the earth.

"You and the children can sleep in the bed, Marie and I have somewhere else to be."

"Thank you."

Nodding to her, I entered the cabin, walked straight to the bedroom. Seeing Marie in deep sleep, I barely had any nerve to wake her up.

"Marie, get up."

Seeing no reaction, I leaned my body towards the bed, put my arms under her legs and back, then flung her on my shoulder.

"Wake up."

"Aaaaahhhhh, Kaiden, let me down right now, or I swear to God."

Gently setting her down, I looked at her, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

"Come on, we should go somewhere else, give the family some alone time."

Still angry at me, she simply walked away ignoring me.

"We need to talk."

Coming to a stop, Marie turned her head and looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

---

"I'm leaving."

Staring at me in a daze, I gave Marie a moment to process what I said.

"I just used Moriarty as a motivator. Tomorrow will be my last day with the group."

"But you can't leave, all these people are depending on you."

Hearing those words, I hesitated, but quickly steeled my resolve.

"These people need a guardian, a leader and I'm none of those."

"What about me?"

Seeing the tears in Marie's eyes, my nose started to burn and my c.h.e.s.t started feeling tight.

"I don't want to force you to choose me or the group, they need you, far more than I do. I'll miss you, sure, but we can keep in touch with the communicator. Now get some rest, long day ahead of us tomorrow."

---

After our sparring came to an end, I headed to my, no, Marie's cabin.

"I'm just going to pack a few things, then head of."

Standing in front of the bed, my c.h.e.s.t tightened, seeing the how lifeless Marie was.

Going through the closets, I only took the minimal amount clothing needed, stuffed it all in my backpack and headed out, but just before I left the room, I had a quick change of plans.

"I'm going to deal with Moriarty's group, after that I'll come and give you my final goodbye, so please don't tell anyone about my plans."

Walking out the door, I started hearing muffled sobs, briefly pausing, I continued on my way.

Seeing the backpack on my back, some of the group's people asked me what's going on, to which I simply replied, that I'm going on an extended hunting trip.

"Hey Kaiden, what's up with Marie?"

Hearing Joshua's voice, I came to a stop.

"We had a fight, something about me pushing myself to hard."

"Oh, so we're you headed?"

"I'm going on a hunting trip, just giving you a heads up, but I'll be gone for a while, so make sure you properly protect this place."

"She's right you know, you're pushing yourself way to hard,"

"What else can I do?" I said, Shrugging my shoulders

"Things will get a lot worse and may not improve, I need to be strong to protect who I care about. I'm heading out, wanna get camp set up before nightfall."

Nodding to Joshua, I walked towards my car.

---

"Somethings not right with Kaiden. I need to talk to Marie."

---

Driving passed the gate, I came to a stop at the edge of the road.

Letting go of the steering wheel, I leaned forward, rested my forehead on the the rim of the steering wheel, tears streaming down my face.

Wiping the tear stains from my cheeks, I started driving down the road, heading up the road to the neighboring town.

'If I return, I'll finally tell you how I've felt all these years, that's a promise.'